What is fashion photography?

This form of photography is used for showcasing attires and accessories along with distinctive attitude. The objective of this genre of photography is simple – to display a fashion or trend, or better still to highlight a chic lifestyle. While initially this field was adopted for exhibiting clothes and accessories and marketing them to the consumers, today it is used for creating aspirations in the minds of the viewer. The underline purpose is to convey a glamorous statement that is related to lifestyle and if done the right way transports the audience to a surreal world and creates desires or arouse latent cravings in the viewer.

Types of fashion photography

Typically, there are four types under this genre –

Editorial type – the editorial form generally revolves around a story or a theme and the photographer typically shoot the model in dresses and accessories that one can possibly wear through the course of an entire day. There are emotions that the model depicts so as to make the story relevant and powerful enough to be noticed by the audience.
High fashion – this is the area where top models from the industry, film stars etc. are made to wear clothes or accessories and are clicked with the purpose of advertising the brand and the products. This form of fashion photography uses blend of all possible combinations like the styling of the model, the makeup, hair, the location, lighting etc to create a perfect image. This image is usually exaggerated, over-dramatic and far from reality with outlandish costumes, stylized hair and fascinating backdrop. This kind of photography can happen inside a studio setup, outdoors as well as at specially organised shows which are more famously called fashion show photography.
Catalogue photography – this type is done specially to click pictures of clothes for catalogues or marketing brochures. This type of photography typically happens inside a studio or a location where a fashion photoshoot is organised. In such photoshoots, the model wears the particular clothes or accessories of the brand and the photographer captures him/her in different poses.
Street fashion – this type of photography shows what is trending amongst the common man on the streets. In this form, photographers do not click models in a fashion shoot; rather they capture images of the ordinary man and woman who are making style statements with their dresses and accessories.